A Shot in the Dark
by sittingonyourfloor
Summary: One student at Columbia University will never finish her finals. In one of Beckett and Castle's toughest cases yet, an investigation mounts on a student murdered in front of the library and Beckett and Castle's home life is challenged in ways neither of them expected. Rating is subject to change.
1. Normal Students

**Welcome, dear readers, to the first chapter of A Shot in the Dark! Beta-ed by Iris and Amanda (aka Unputdownable and KrissaBelle7**

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Kate Beckett was characterized in part by her traditions. An outsider probably would not notice them at first glance, but the people closest to her definitely did. The one person who knew her traditions best was her husband, and it was the only thing he never joked about to her.

Kate's husband, best-selling mystery novelist Richard Castle, had been trained to know better than to joke about his wife's traditions. Unlike many people who had traditions imbued with happiness and fond memories, most of Kate's were steeped in dark thoughts and the sorrow of her past. Although Castle helped to add a little light and joy back into her traditions, he could never make the darkness completely dissipate.

There were small traditions that Kate did almost every day. She would, for instance, drink coffee in the morning to "charge her batteries" for the day to come. Whenever she saw her husband after being apart for more than an hour, she had to kiss him "hello." In fact, whenever she saw her husband, in general, she had to kiss him (but that was almost primal need).

One of Kate's biggest traditions centered around her job. Crime scenes invoked special ones that Kate would never relinquish. Right before crossing that yellow tape, no matter whom she was with or how urgent the matter was, Kate had to pause and take a deep breath before ducking under that police line. Every time she went to a job, she was transported back to the same memory: that rainy night, January 9, 1999, when she was nineteen and carefree.

And then she wasn't.

Now, every time she crossed over into the world of murder, she remembered that night and was reminded that someone had lost a family member or a friend.

Today was no different. The call came in around three in the morning and cut Kate and Castle's sleeping time very short. Kate groaned after she hung up on dispatch and buried her head back into the pillow. She lifted it up straight after that though and nudged her partner. The couple rolled out of bed and got ready in silence, both too tired to make conversation.

"So where are we going?" Castle asked once they were in the car and each of them had taken a few sips of coffee (very, very strong coffee).

Kate started the car, pulling out of her parking spot and the garage onto the dead streets of the city that never sleeps. "Columbia University," she told him, her voice laced with caution. She looked at him intensely, willing Castle not to let the emotions threatening to break through take control of him.

"Kate," he said to her. How he could fill one word with a book's worth of emotion, she had no idea.

"Let's just get there first," she told him. She moved her hand to his knee and gave him a quick squeeze.

Castle turned and stared blankly out the window. Streetlamps bathed the roads in dirty yellow light. They highlighted where people left their trash out for the cleanup crews. Native New Yorkers loved their city; even its less than friendly characteristics made the city unique and exciting. All Castle could see tonight, however, were the grimy sidewalks and the dark figures partially hidden in alleyways.

114th Street cut right through Columbia University's campus. Kate turned off Broadway and headed eastbound on 114th until she saw the shiny yellow tape and the bright lights. Esposito and Ryan were already at the scene; she recognized their car—the bloody red sticking out against all of the other, dark Crown Victorias.

Once parked, Kate and Castle got out of their car and headed over to the crime scene. As always, Kate stopped just before the tape and closed her eyes for a moment. Usually, Castle would duck under and give her a moment alone. This time, however, he stopped as well and mirrored his wife.

"Yo, Beckett!" Esposito's call cut through the silent tradition.

"Hey, Espo," Kate said. She dipped her head to go under the tape and Castle followed, lowering the tape back to its original height after he went under it.

"So what've we got?" Kate asked the Hispanic detective. The air clouded for a split second when she spoke, a sure sign of the storm the weather channels had been predicting all week.

"Student. Lanie's doing the exam now, come on," he told them both.

Instead of following, Kate backtracked to where her husband was standing and pressed in close to his side.

"Alexis is at home in bed, Castle. She's safe," the female detective said quietly.

"I didn't-" Castle shook his head.

"Yes, you didn't very loudly." She put an arm around his waist and leaned close to him, something he reciprocated. "Come on, we have a job to do."

They walked, fingers entwined for comfort, to where the Medical Examiner was hunched over the body.

"Lanie," Kate greeted her friend. She addressed the group, "So what have we got here?"

Ryan spoke up. "Her name is Elizabeth Sanders, twenty years old. She's a student here, but she's from up in the Boston area."

"GSW?" Kate asked.

"Just one," Lanie said, "Unfortunately she died slowly and recently. My guess is that if the call came in about half an hour earlier, she may have had a chance, albeit a small one."

Kate blew out a breath that showed itself in mid-air. The girl had died slowly and alone. The library was barely a few steps from this spot. Her blood was already starting to frost at the edges.

"No witnesses?" she asked the group.

"Nope," Esposito said, "But of the few people in the library—that's where Elizabeth was last—we got a lot saying that there was an amped-up muffler sound about an hour ago. Elizabeth might have been shot then and they'd have never heard it. And there are security cameras so maybe we'll get lucky."

"Do we have a time for that muffler?"

"Yeah, about one forty-five, two o'clock. "

"Sounds right with the time of shooting. Though a muffler at the same time as a gunshot? That sounds like pre-meditation," Castle added in to the conversation.

Kate frowned and nodded. "All right. Ryan, get on those security cameras and see what you can find. Espo, cover the surrounding buildings and see if anyone saw or heard something. Corroborate that muffler with other witnesses. Castle and I will start digging into Elizabeth's life."

Her orders received nods from everyone and the group broke up.

"Early start to the day," Kate said to her husband on their drive to the precinct.

"Yeah."

"Got any theories on this one yet?" she asked.

"No."

"Any other words?"

"No."

Kate drove the car into its parking spot and turned off the engine. She did not open the door up, though.

"Hey," she said to Castle, putting her hand on his arm, "Is everything okay?"

"Fine." He did not look at her.

"_Rick_."

Castle sighed and turned to face his wife. Their eyes locked with one another, blue on hazel, and conveyed more than even Castle could put into words.

"She was shot on campus. She was walking back from the library like any other normal student. Kate, that could have been Alexis," he told her, his voice cracking on the name of his daughter.

"Normal students, Castle, aren't shot in what is looking like pre-meditation. Alexis is safe and at home. _She_ is a normal student. She is not Elizabeth Sanders. Now come on, her roommate is coming up to be interviewed," Kate said to him. However, she would be lying if she did not admit to herself that part of her felt the way Castle did.

The car doors closed behind them, the sounds mixing in with the daily traffic around the Twelfth. Riding up to Homicide was a quiet affair, but Kate entwined her fingers with Castle's just like at the crime scene and squeezed their joined hands a few times.

_It's no different from any other case_, she reasoned with herself, _So why has this one hit us both so hard?_

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**Reviews are much appreciated! Next chapter will probably come in a week or so. I have to finish finals before I write anymore! 3**


	2. Heavily Defended Castle

**Welcome to the second chapter of A Shot in the Dark! Apologies for the long wait, I had some personal health issues to sort out as well as other life events. Hopefully, this will be the last long wait! This story is Beta-ed by Iris and Amanda (and we have exciting plans for it in the future...).**

**BE ADVISED: The author apologizes for the extreme case-heaviness of this chapter**

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"Miss Gray, I'm Detective Beckett and this is Mr. Castle. Thank you for coming in so early in the morning," Kate said as she and Castle walked into the lounge where non-suspects were interviewed.

"So it's true then, what they said? Lizzie's dead?" The young woman sitting on the couch stared up at them with wide, blue eyes. Her voice had cracked on "dead."

"I'm sorry to be the one to confirm it," Kate said, sitting down, "But yes, she's dead."

At this, the girl hung her head and Kate saw spots on her faded jeans begin to dampen. They were just small, scattered damp spots that looked like little, misshapen circles. _Just like with Mom_, Kate remembered. When Raglan broke the news of her mother's death to her and her dad, she did not say anything, she just wept silently. What are you supposed to say after someone tells you that you'll never see your mother, or friend, again?

"Kelly," Kate said softly to the girl, "Were the two of you very close?"

Kelly sniffled as she looked up. Although she used one of her sweatshirt's sleeves to wipe her tears away, her eyes remained glassy and red-tinted. "Yeah," she said with a gravelly voice, "We were basically best friends."

"So you knew what was going on in her life?" Castle asked her. He left his place , leaning against the wall, to sit next to Kate.

Nodding, Kelly replied, "Yeah, I— I guess."

"What can you tell us about Eliz- Lizzie?" Kate asked. Her insides clenched with hope that Kelly would be able to unravel the building mystery of why a twenty year-old girl was shot outside the library with near-obvious premeditation.

Kelly looked up at the ceiling with a little smile. "Lizzie was my best friend. We had the same major, evolutionary biology, and we were in all the same clubs. She was an incredible person. I can't think of why anyone would want to hurt her."

"Did anything strange happen recently? Anything out of character? It could be odd-hour phone calls, missed classes, something she said, perhaps," Kate pressed her.

"Come to think of it, Detective, she had been a little more secretive than usual. We're pretty competitive within our program, so sometimes we don't discuss research but this was more secretive than usual."

"Why do you think that, Kelly?" Castle asked her.

Kelly shrugged. "She wouldn't tell me. My guess is it was something big. Lizzie's probably one of the best in the program. She'd never give up a huge find if it meant that her notoriety would be boosted. If I were in your shoes, I'd talk to Professor Lang. He was Lizzie's advisor and she'd tell him about the research, I bet. He'd definitely know more than I do."

"Thank you, Kelly," Kate said as she stood up and Castle followed suit.

The student got up to leave, but turned back to the detective before she left. "Detective Beckett, you'll let me know if you find anything, right?"

"I will," Kate told her, "I promise."

Kelly gave her a two second smile before she disappeared out the door.

After she gave the girl a minute to leave, Kate followed out the door wordlessly and leaned against her desk to stare at the sparse murder board.

"I hate when you chew your lip when we're at work," Castle told her after a moment.

She looked over and gave him a devilish grin. "Do you now, Castle?"

"Yes," he said, his voice lowering to a dangerous level.

Sidling over to him, she said, "Well, got any theories that will help us get out of here faster?" Coyly, she traced his arm with her fingertips with a touch that would make any sane man shiver. Castle was all too familiar with what would come next if she kept that up.

"If you keep doing that, I can't think." Kate chuckled and obliged, dropping her arm to her side.

"A competitive evolutionary biology student who suddenly wouldn't share anything with the girl who labeled them as best friends," Castle pondered out loud. They had very little information and, already, it did not add up.

Kate scrunched her face in concentration. "Do you think what Kelly said was true, that she stumbled upon something big while doing research?"

"It's the best lead we have," Castle told her, "And I think Lang would help."

Nodding, Kate stood up from her leaning position. "I'll have tech look at Sanders's laptop and we can go talk to Lang. Hey," she tapped Ryan on the shoulder to make sure he paid attention.

"Yeah?" the Irish Detective responded.

"Castle and I are going to go talk to Sanders's advisor. When we get back, let's start trying to piece this thing together. Nothing is making sense right now."

"You got it, boss," he said, ever -cheery.

The journey back to Columbia was loud with silence. Usually, Kate and Castle would talk about a case or what was for dinner or anything they felt like talking about. Today, however, the traumatic events from the morning loomed over their heads and casual conversation did not have a place. Gone was the playful attitude of less than an hour before.

"Alexis has her last final today, right?" Kate said after they parked the car and started walking towards the Sherman Fairchild Center, which was where the biological sciences department was housed.

"Hm- yeah," Castle replied. His stared at his feet as they walked.

Kate ignored him brushing her off. She had a job to do; a husband who was having a bad day could not compromise her work performance right now.

Once they were inside, Kate scrolled through the directory to find Lang's name. "He's up on the next floor. Room two-oh-six," she said, more to herself than to Castle. They climbed an open stairwell in the lobby to the second floor, admiring the artistic side of the building. It had a scientific quality to it that made it emit waves of modernity and a certain level of intelligence. Kate swore she could see double helixes hidden throughout the structure. The mix of stone and wood, and the floor-to-ceiling windows that overlooked a small garden in the middle of the building made it feel open and natural. Some of the walls were made of chalkboard, allowing students to work out problems without using paper.

"Lang's office," Kate said as they reached Room 206. She was not completely sure why she announced that out loud given that her _partner_ was not paying her any mind at the moment.

The room was dark and Kate found the doorknob locked when she jiggled it.

"Are you looking for Professor Lang?" a voice from behind the pair asked.

"Yes, do you know where he is?" Castle asked, whirling around. _Oh, so he just isn't talking to me, _Kate thought in a surly way.

She turned around to see a girl with dark brown hair tied back in a bun, who looked to be about Alexis's age. "He took a personal day," she told them, "I wouldn't blame him after what happened to Lizzie Sanders."

"That's what we're here about," Kate said as she pulled out her badge, "We're with the NYPD and we're investigating the Sanders case. Who are you, exactly? How do you know Professor Lang and Elizabeth?"

"I'm Pollyann," the girl replied, "Professor Lang is my advisor, like he was Lizzie's. Lizzie and I had a few classes together, that's how I know her. Professor Lang loved her, he thought she was a miracle student." Her voice was laced with distaste that had not originally been there.

"You disagree?" Castle pressed Pollyann.

"I—I shouldn't tarnish her memory," she replied, averting her eyes.

Kate stepped forward. "Please. We need to know everything, Pollyann."

The student sighed and looked up at the detective. "Lizzie was always an eager student, even with students outside her specific area of study. I mean, yeah we compete for positions and jobs and stuff but we're just undergrads. I didn't realize how competitive people would be. And Lizzie was the worst. She'd do anything to gain some notoriety in the academic community, even if that meant running someone else's reputation through the ground. But Professor Lang worshipped the ground she walked on, and he's the head of the department. So we couldn't exactly do much about it."

Kate's eyebrows raised higher and higher as the story went on. "Thanks, Pollyann," she said at the end, "Will you let Professor Lang know that we'll be back to talk to him?"

"Sure, Detective," she said. Before they could get another word in, she walked – practically sprinted – down the hall.

Castle came up next to Kate. "That's a very different story from what Kelly told us," he said to her.

"Yeah," she agreed, "And I'd like to know why."

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**So yeah, very case-heavy. The next chapter will be more Caskett-centric and then we'll balance it out after that. **

**Please review or PM me :D Also, if anyone can find the most important piece of information we learn in this chapter, bonus points to you.**


	3. I'm Ready

**Hello readers! Apologies for the lengths of time between updates, writing generally takes a backseat to life, unfortunately. Anyways, hopefully I will get better with timely updates. For now, enjoy chapter 3 as we continue on this promising journey. **

**Beta-ed by Iris and Amanda**

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Kate did not like being told that she needed to go home and get some rest. It brought out the rebel in her. She wanted to stay at the precinct longer just to prove that she could. At least, that's what usually happened. This time, she was just too mentally drained. Her team had been working on the damn Sanders case all day and it was going in circles. _And_, tech was not going to have any information on the victim's laptop and phone until tomorrow. Not to mention, the victim's parents were coming in tomorrow for an interview.

However, home did not seem to be much better of a place than the precinct. Castle's odd behavior had persisted all day and Kate realized that she would have to confront him about it once and for all. It was never a pleasant experience, but Kate knew it had to be done. She was also hyperaware that this time, she had a much shorter fuse than usual.

They drove home in silence and walked into a dark apartment when they got inside. _Alexis is probably out with friends. I suppose now is as good a time as any,_ Kate thought to herself. Castle was sitting on the couch, scrutinizing the television remote as if he could not decide if he should turn the television on.

"Hey," Kate said, coming to sit on the ottoman in between Castle and the television.

"What do you want, Kate?" Castle asked, bitterly enough that Kate winced. He softened quickly when he saw the hurt on her face. "Sorry," he murmured.

Kate sighed and gave a little gesture of "whatever" to him. "Listen, today's been rough, but why won't you just tell me what's eating you? Ever since we left that crime scene you've been in a bad mood."

"How can you not see what's wrong, Kate?" Castle asked her incredulously, "Didn't you think exactly what I did when you found out she had been coming back from studying?"

"Castle, it wasn't Alexis," Kate told him.

"But it could have been," he replied.

"No, it couldn't have. Normal students don't get shot randomly or pre-meditatively. Elizabeth did something to bring that on, I know that much. The picture of her we got today is mixed, but I think Pollyann was telling the truth. You heard her. She said that Elizabeth would have done _anything_ for notoriety. That's going to stir up some enemies," Kate told him.

Castle nodded. "Maybe you're right, Kate. But today just put a lot of things into perspective. It brought back that stuff from Paris. I don't think I could handle a situation like that, or worse, again. That was a living hell, Kate."

"There are always going to be risks," Kate told him simply, "You've gone through danger with Alexis and with me, and you've survived. I have with you, too."

Castle looked at her, slight bewilderment on his face until he remembered with whom he was talking. "Alexis is different. I don't think you understand, Kate, but I don't expect you to understand. It's just a different kind of love."

A familiar tug pulled at Kate's heart. She loved Castle and Alexis, but she was acutely aware of their mysterious, special, parent-child bond to which she had no access. "I wish I knew," she said quietly in a cracked voice. Her eyes started to burn around the edges.

"Hey, hey, Kate, don't cry," Castle said, moving to take her and pull her from the ottoman onto the couch with him. She put her arms around his neck and let her salty tears leak onto his button-down as he rubbed her back soothingly.

"I'm sorry," she said, " I just—I just wish I knew." Castle kissed her hairline, not saying anything to her, just holding her close. He had not expected Kate's sudden change in emotions. _I never knew how much this affected her_, he thought.

"Rick?" Kate asked quietly after a period of just letting the tears roll down her cheeks silently.

"Hmm?" he replied.

"I know we haven't talked about it much, but… can we try?"

"Try what?"

"Can we try for a baby?" she asked, a note of a plea in her voice. They had thrown around the idea a few times, but never seriously sat down and said they were going to try. Castle had never stopped the idea, but Kate had been focused on her career and just settling into married life without Bracken. Sometimes, though, the ache of wanting her own child blindsided her. Seeing Castle with Alexis and Ryan with Sarah Grace caused envy to flare up inside her. She was happy for them and generally pushed aside the thought with reasons like "it's not the right time with a job like mine" and thoughts about how a baby would affect her relationship with Castle. Kate was not even sure if she was cut out to be a parent. The envy that flared up was usually overtaken by worries and excuses. But Kate knew, now, she was ready. Nobody is prepared for parenthood and who was she kidding saying that her relationship with Castle would be strained. If anything, it would make them stronger, an even better "power couple," in Lanie's words, than before.

Castle looked down at her and gave a soft smile. "Are you sure, Kate?"

She nodded. "I'm ready, Castle. I want to have a family with you."

"Can we start now?" Castle asked with a joking sense of eagerness. The old sparkle to his eyes had returned.

Kate stretched up and kissed him, passion coursing through her body and electrifying the kiss. "Definitely," she said breathlessly.

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"Let's go over what we've got so far," Kate said on Thursday for what she thought must be the millionth time. Another day wading through the Sanders case and they were no closer to figuring out who the hell this girl was. Kate ran a slender hand through her bronze locks and huffed out an exasperated sigh. This was worse than the cryonics case they had a few years back, and they had a body this time!

Ryan sifted through some of Elizabeth's file. "From what we've gathered, she was a top evolutionary biology student who was doing research well-beyond the undergraduate level. People outside her department say she was likable, if a little ambitious. _But_, people _in_ the department said she was hungry for notoriety and willing to do anything for even the tiniest bit of recognition. A lot of students recalled instances where they were thrown under the bus and said she would falsely accuse them of sabotaging her projects and research."

"And her parents were no help," Castle put in, "They swore she was this angelic super-daughter who could do no wrong and would go on to win about a bazillion prizes and gain international recognition. 'Who would even think of killing our darling Lizzie?'" He mimicked Mrs. Sanders's voice with keen accuracy.

"Yo," Esposito called out to his team from the tech room, "We got something."

Once they had all gathered around the screen hooked up to the laptop, Kate and Castle keeping their bodies brushing against each other, Tory pulled up what she and Esposito had discovered.

"We found a bunch of saved emails between Sanders and that professor, Professor Lang, which seemed less than friendly to one another," Tory said, "After some further digging, I recovered research Sanders had saved and then deleted on her laptop. I don't really know what it says—I'm more of a computer science person than a biological science person—but it looks different than the rest of Elizabeth's research."

"What do you mean _looks different_?" Castle asked, squinting at the screen.

Tory replied, "I mean, simply, that she saved everything in a similar name for her research. She would put her last name, some sort of subject, and then the date. This file was simply saved as 'L.'"

"I'd like to know what's on that file," Esposito said, "Like what it really means."

"Maybe," Castle said in his theory voice, "Elizabeth was a evil hacker who stumbled upon nuclear launch codes which, if put into action, would plunge the world into a war. And she was genius enough to know how to control all the opponents. So the CIA took her out under the cover of a random shooting."

"Oh, how much easier our job would be, Castle, if we could just blame everything on the CIA," Kate said sarcastically, "Luckily, I think I know who can help with this."

"Who?" Ryan asked.

"The girl who knows more than she's letting on," Kate said, "Pollyann."

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**Looks like Pollyann will make an appearance again. **

**Reviews are much appreciated! **


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